Our older granddaughter Lila will be 13 on Thursday. Years ago, when she was learning to read, I bought Lila the early reader Bob books. Seeing her curled up in her striped pajamas was too delicious not to photograph and paint. She is still a redhead and an avid reader.
A reminder of family and friends who died too young.
This week is the second anniversary of the death of my dear cousin Connie, who was 71.
Did you know that in the year 1900, the average person died at 49?
We are blessed to be alive, in this moment, right now.
This weekend Bruce and I have been in Brooklyn to help our son Andrew with six-month-old Maggie while he works, and our daughter-in-law Eva travels to California for a family wedding. While Maggie napped I went to a nearby coffee shop. What I loved drawing most about this scene was the traffic light and the one way sign.
And what a privilege to be with this adorable baby!
Several years ago we made traveled to Utah, rented an RV, and toured the major national parks for ten days. Arches is huge and studded with rock formations like this. The Three Gossips is iconic. You can see why.
How to compose a drawing or painting, even of a single subject like this, is a question. Should you put it right in the middle? Should you show the entire object, or crop it? Having the object off-center or cropping it often makes a more interesting composition. Here I painted the grapefruit off-center, then took a photo and cropped it. What do you think?
Here are two quick sketches I did the week before Labor Day at Sandy Island, the YMCA Family Camp on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH where we have gone for over 30 summers. The first is the water taxi for people to get on and off the island. The second is of the dining hall porch. Sandy Island is a great place to vacation! Check it out here.
It would be even funnier if it weren’t true ….
